Vaccinia virus is a big mystery in virology. It is not known whether vaccinia virus is the product of genetic recombination, or if it is a species derived from cowpox virus or variola virus by prolonged serial passage, or if it is the living representative of a now extinct virus.

Vaccinia virus was used for smallpox vaccination

Describe Monkey pox

Rare viral disease found mostly in the rain forest in west Africa.

Called “monkeypox” because it was first discovered in laboratory monkeys in 1958

Describe Orf

Orf is a viral pox infection of the skin contracted from sheep and goats

Describe Herpes Viruses

A leading cause of human viral disease, second only to influenza and cold viruses

Once a patient has become infected by herpes virus, the infection remains for life

Icosahedral symmetry

Enveloped

Single molecule of double stranded DNA

Attracted to neurons

Name the 7 Herpes Viruses

Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

Varicella- Zoster Virus (VZV)

Herpes simplex viruses (HSV)

Epstein Barr (EBV)

Human herpes virus 6

Human herpes virus 7

Human herpes virus 8

Decribe Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

By college age, about 15% of the US population is infected and this rises to about half by 35 years of age.

The virus is spread in most bodily secretions

Cytomegalovirus infection is therefore sexually transmitted

Transplacental infection - CMV can also spread to a fetus in a pregnant woman

Most common viral cause of congenital disease (mental retardation)

Up to one in forty newborns in the U.S. are infected by the virus

CMV causes no symptoms in children and at most mild disease in adults

CMV can be a major problem for those who are immunosuppressed

CMV in AIDS Patients Causes what?

Particularly important is CMV-retinitis in the eye which occurs in up to 15% of all AIDS patients

Varicella- Zoster Virus (VZV) is also known as what?

Also known as human herpes virus-3

Varicella- Zoster Virus (VZV) causes what two diseases?

VZV causes two diseases, chicken-pox, usually in childhood, and shingles, later in life